1. Field
The present subject matter relates to an authentication method, an authentication apparatus and an authentication system. In particular, the present subject matter relates to a method of authenticating a user at a peripheral apparatus, a peripheral apparatus for authenticating a user of the peripheral apparatus and a system for authenticating a user of a peripheral apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
OAuth is an authentication protocol that allows users to approve applications to act on their behalf without sharing their credentials, e.g. password. In the traditional client-server authentication model, a client uses its credentials to access resources hosted by a server. OAuth introduces a third role to this model: the resource owner. In the OAuth model, the client (which is not the resource owner, but is acting on its behalf) requests access to resources controlled by the resource owner, but hosted by the server.
In order for the client to access resources, it first has to obtain permission from the resource owner. This permission is expressed in the form of a token and matching shared-secret. The purpose of the token is to make it unnecessary for the resource owner to share its credentials with the client. Unlike the resource owner credentials, tokens can be issued with a restricted scope and limited lifetime, and revoked independently. For further information on OAuth please refer to http://oauth.net/.
A social networking service is an online service, platform, or site that focuses on building and reflecting social networks or social relations among people, who, for example, share interests and/or activities and people with similar or somewhat similar interests, backgrounds and/or activities make their own communities. A social networking service consists of a representation of each user (often a profile), his/her social links, and a variety of additional services. Most social networking services are web-based and provide means for users to interact over the Internet, such as e-mail and instant messaging. Social networking sites allow users to share ideas, activities, events, and interests within their individual networks.
The main types of social networking services are those that contain category places (such as former school year or classmates), means to connect with friends (usually with self-description pages), and a recommendation system linked to trust. Popular methods now combine many of these, with Facebook®, Google+®, and Twitter® widely used worldwide. Twitter is an online social networking service and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, known as “tweets”. Unregistered users can read the tweets, while registered users can post tweets through the website interface, SMS, or a range of apps for mobile devices.
In large MFP installations, Active Directory, a directory service by Microsoft® can be installed in order to control log-on of users. However, in smaller installations, installing Active Directory is expensive and inconvenient. It is desirable to provide an alternative log-on mechanism which is suitable for smaller installations of groups of MFPs.